


Drowning in Blue

by Jessiebulby



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drowning, Feels, Hurt No Comfort, Sad, Sad Ending, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 11:38:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessiebulby/pseuds/Jessiebulby
Summary: Blue, come on! Come on!” he yelled, panic growing in his whole being.His Lion was trying its best, he knew it, but it wasn’t enough. There was nothing they could do now, they were in open space near a planet made mostly of water just far enough from the Galra ship to be unable to escape the incoming attack. Lance was scared for his and Blue’s lives.“Shiro! I can’t! I… I’m sorry…” Lance said over the coms, unshed tears stinging his eyes and shaking hands holding Blue’s controls so tight his knuckles were white.The cannon fired before anyone could say anything else.orThe Blue Lion and its paladin fall to their depth (pun intended :P)





	Drowning in Blue

**Author's Note:**

> If you're looking for a small emotional Langsty deathfic, you're at the right place!
> 
> I wrote this while I was bored at work this week. 
> 
> Hope you like it!
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments :)
> 
> Thanks!!

“Lance! Get away from there now!” Shiro yelled in alarm as he saw the Galran cannon charge up and lock onto the blue Lion.

  
Shiro very rarely showed such emotions. He tried to always be the fearless leader everyone could count on in times of despair in front of his team. That just showed how much Lance was in trouble. No one could help him, they had all been separated as they were trying to defeat enough fighters to be able to form Voltron. Now Lance was left alone against the Galra Empire’s new weapon. Lance could feel his teammates’ fear in the quintessential link they shared with their Lions.

  
“Blue, come on! Come on!” he yelled, panic growing in his whole being.

  
His Lion was trying its best, he knew it, but it wasn’t enough. There was nothing they could do now, they were in open space near a planet made mostly of water just far enough from the Galra ship to be unable to escape the incoming attack. Lance was scared for his and Blue’s lives.

  
“Shiro! I can’t! I… I’m sorry…” Lance said over the coms, unshed tears stinging his eyes and shaking hands holding Blue’s controls so tight his knuckles were white.

  
The cannon fired before anyone could say anything else. It was a direct hit, and with horror they all saw the blue Lion’s body being destroyed and torn apart before them. They heard Lance’s scream of agony through the coms and everyone screamed with him, completely horrified by what they had just witness. Feeling a part of them being brutally ripped away, they stared with tears in their eyes and pain in their chests as the Blue Lion’s remains fell towards the planet below. There wasn’t much left of Blue anymore, and nothing looked salvageable, except maybe its head which seemed to have mostly survived the blast.

  
“Guys! We have to take care of that cannon!” Keith reminded them as the thing was ready to charge up again and certainly attack another one of them. It had hurt him a lot to see Lance be killed, completely helpless to stop it. He couldn’t let that happen to any other member of his family, and that meant that they needed to destroy the Galran Weapon right now.

  
“Keith’s right. We’ll continue to support you from the Castle,” Allura informed them, visibly trying hard to hide her emotions.

  
“Let’s go team,” Shiro agreed without much fire in his words.

  
Shiro and Keith continued their fight against the fighters while Pidge and Hunk were taking care of the cannon. Shiro had failed another teammate…

  
Lance came to with a terrible headache and nausea. He couldn’t see anything around him, everything was completely dark, except for the low light that emanated from his paladin gear. After a few long ticks, he realized that there was also a weird sound in the small cockpit and he felt wetness on about half of his body. Water. Water was getting inside Blue and Lance realized what that meant. He reached for his helmet to open the coms.

  
“Guys?” he rasped then.

  
“Lance! Oh my God, you’re still alive!” Hunk cried in joy.

  
“Lance!” Pidge said joyfully, but voice still emotional.

  
“Lance, what’s your condition?” Allura asked, anxious.

  
“It’s so dark… Blue isn’t responding,” Lance announced.

  
“What about you?” Shiro asked.

  
“I’m… I’m okay. I think I hit my head,” Lance answered, visibly confused.

  
The Cuban boy let out a hiss as he brought a hand to a wet hot liquid trickling down his forehead. He was still wearing his helmet which meant he must have hit it really hard. He couldn’t remember when it had happened.

“Yeah, definitely hit my head when Blue was hit. But, hum… Guys, there’s like a lot of water in here, and I think the level is already higher than when I woke up,” he added, fear growing inside of him again.

  
“Lance, your Lion fell in the planet’s waters. You need to get out of your Lion, it’s probably filling with water as it’s sinking. Can you do that?” Shiro asked.

  
“I’ll try,” he answered.

  
His voice sounded so out of it, but if he said he wasn’t injured anywhere else, then that was good. A concussion was usually bad, but things could be way way worse.

  
“I’ll take care of Lance. Keith and Allura, keep covering Pidge and Hunk,” Shiro ordered then.

  
“Bring Number 3 to the main hangar as soon as you can, Shiro. I’ll take care of him right away!” Coran told him.

  
Everyone was now driven by a new determination pushing them and their Lions past their limits. Lance’s life depended on it.

  
Lance stood up from his pilot chair and immediately felt really dizzy. He grabbed the back of his chair to support him and, after a few ticks, walked to his Lion’s normal exit. Strangely, it was completely blocked. A big metal wall prevented him to access the rest of his spaceship. That was strange, but he guessed it probably was to protect him. Blue’s body must have taken the hit pretty bad, but at least Lance survived the blast. He tried to find another way out. There was an emergency exit on top of Blue’s head. He climbed on his chair and followed the instructions – in English thanks to Pidge- but it wouldn’t budge. He was stuck in his Lion while it filled with water. At least, he still had his helmet! With it, he could survive a few hours at least. Or maybe not… He remembered that he had hit his head pretty bad and he probably even had a concussion Shiro had said. That meant there was a possibility that his helmet was damaged. He took it off and saw that it was cracked. Quiznack!

  
He put his helmet back on.

  
“Shiro…” Lance started as panic seemed to make it hard to breathe. “There’s no way out, and my helmet is cracked,” he announced.

  
“I’m coming Lance!” Shiro told him.

  
“Cannon disarmed!” Pidge announced then, voice still tense.

  
“Good job Pidge! Now, you all take care of the other fighters! Lance, I’ll be there soon,” Shiro told them.

  
Lance was completely terrified. The water level was now mid-thigh as he was still standing up on his pilot chair. He wanted to be back to the Castle, flirting with Allura, listening to Coran’s endless stories, playing video games with Pidge, cooking with Hunk, and annoying Keith. He wanted to be back on Earth, chilling by the beach with his family. He wanted to live…

  
Shiro was so close to the surface. He could see Lance’s approximate position by the debris that floated on the water, mainly the Blue Lion’s body parts. It’s head had detached from the rest. That wasn’t good news. Lance was certainly already pretty deep because Shiro couldn’t see Blue’s head even a little, and the water was really clear thanks to the cloudless sky above. Shiro’s Lion plunged under water as soon as it reached it. His Lion was big and difficult to maneuver in water, but it wouldn’t prevent him from getting Lance back safe and sound, or at least safe.

  
“Lance? Talk to me. How are you doing?” Shiro asked.

  
“I’m scared, Shiro. The water is already past my hips now and the emergency exit won’t open at all,” Lance explained.

  
“I’ll be there soon,” Shiro told him.

  
A couple of meters down, he finally found Blue’s head’s silhouette as it was slowly sinking down, letting out small bubbles in its wake.

  
“I’ll drown…” Lance breathed, fearful.

  
“No, I can see you already, Lance! You’ll be Ok,” Shiro tried to reassure him.

  
Lance felt like he wasn’t himself. The hit to his head and this life-threatening situation really made it all worse. His head hurt, and he was nauseous, tired and scared. It was the worst he had ever felt in his life. Shiro was trying so hard to reassure him and save him, but Lance knew deep down that the water level was too high now, reaching his ribs now. At least, the water wasn’t too cold or too hot…

  
“Shiro, if I don’t make it, tell my family I loved them,” Lance said.

  
“Lance, I’m right there! Hold on a bit more!” Shiro encouraged him.

  
“It’s… It’s filling in quicker than before, Shiro,” Lance informed him, with a trembling voice.

  
“I got you! Now, let’s get back to the surface!” Shiro said as Black’s jaw took the Blue Lion’s head in its mouth.

  
“I’m sorry…” Lance said before taking in a big gulp of air.

  
“Lance? Lance, answer me!” Shiro ordered.

  
“Buddy? Oh my God Shiro, if he’s already underwater…” Hunk started through the coms, unable to finish his sentence.

  
“Black, faster!” Shiro yelled.

  
The Lion roared in everyone’s mind and sped up to reach the surface as soon as possible.

  
“Lance! Damn it! You can’t give up!” Keith yelled.

  
Lance could still hear his friends try to encourage him to keep holding his breath, holding onto life. He didn’t want to die!

  
“Lance, please, I need my space big brother!” Pidge added.

  
“You’re an irreplaceable paladin and friend, Lance! We can’t lose you!” Allura told him.

  
“Come on, Number 3! Just a few more ticks!” Coran encouraged him too.

  
He was so happy to hear their voices, but his body was already screaming for air. He wouldn’t last long enough. His head was hurting even more and his lungs were burning. How much time had it been already? Probably past two dobashes now. Lance had always loved water. He was a great swimmer, lived by the beach, became Blue’s paladin, the Lion of water. He always spent his weekends and evening by the sea when he was young. He used to do contests with his siblings to see who could stay under the water the longest. Lance always won. But now the water would win. He let out the last bubbles of air in his lungs.

  
“We’re almost out Lance!” Shiro called.

  
Lance couldn’t handle the pressure and burning anymore. His body slowly became weightless, as the last bit of energy he had left him. His mind was slowing down from the panic that had taken control of him for the past dobashes. He couldn’t hold his breath anymore. So, he inhaled, water passing through his throat and filling his lungs. For ten peaceful ticks, Lance didn’t feel anything anymore and just floated, eyes half-closed in the water-filled mechanical Lion head.

  
_Sorry mama… I really wanted to go back home…_

  
In his last moments, Lance saw his life flashing through his mind. He was happy to at least have a look at all his life’s most important moments one more time. He remembered his days on Earth, his family, his friends, their smiles, their laughs; when he first met Hunk, Keith, Pidge and Shiro; when he connected with Blue, went into space and met Allura and Coran; the first time they formed Voltron; every moment spent with them all, their wins and their losses… His consciousness faded away as a small content smile appeared on his lips. He wished he could live longer, but he was satisfied with the life he had had. The last thing he felt was an agonizing roar shake his whole being, deep into his quintessence.

  
Shiro’s Lion shot out of the water in a sorrowful roar and everyone on the team knew what that meant. Water escaped the Blue Lion’s head.

  
“Lance! Lance, are you Ok? Please, tell me you’re Ok,”Shiro pleaded.

  
Enough water must have evacuated Blue’s head now. They should have heard from him! But only silence answered him. With a scream full of despair, Shiro headed for the closest island. He ran out of his Lion as soon as it had landed and carefully dropped Blue’s head. Shiro went for the stuck emergency door and immediately saw why Lance couldn’t get out. There was no emergency door anymore, and Blue’s head was barely recognizable. It was mostly melted metals that had cooled in the water. Without quintessence, Blue’s head had sustained incredible damage upon entering the planet’s atmosphere. Shiro activated his Galra arm right away and spotted a seemingly more fragile part on the mass’s side. He used his arm to cut through the metal. It was harder than he thought it would be, but he put all he got into this task. He had to be fast. He had to save Lance. He had to!

  
Water poured out of the thing, making it even harder for Shiro. After at least two long dobashes, he finally completed the circle he had made. He ripped the metal part and entered right away. He instantly found Lance, lying lifeless a few feet on the side. Shiro didn’t wait and took him out of there. He was limped in his arm and so cold. Too cold… There was no warmth, no sign of life, nothing…

  
Shiro put him on the ground and took in Lance’s condition. He wasn’t breathing and there was no pulse.

  
“No no no no no…” he said as he started the reanimation technique he had learned during his years at the Garrison. “Breathe, Lance! Breathe!” He tried to encourage him.

  
But no words was reaching the teenager anymore. It had been too long, he had been too late. He had failed his teammate, one he considered like a little brother.

  
He barely noticed the other Lions landing around him. He pushed and pushed and pushed on his chest, and blew air in his lungs, and pushed again and again and again… But Lance was gone.

  
His heart remained inanimate.

  
“No…” He heard Keith say, voice small as he fell to his knees beside Shiro.

  
Shiro stopped pushing, despair and sorrow taking a hold of his body. It had been dobashes now. Hunk came in front of Shiro, tears already running down his cheeks. His trembling hands hovered above Lance, as if he was scared to touch him… As if feeling the coldness of his body would make it all real.

  
“Buddy? No. No! You can’t die! What about your happy ending, uh? We were supposed to get back to Earth together…” Hunk said, voice breaking into a loud wail as he finally took his best friend into his lap.

  
Pidge came beside Hunk, crying all the tears of her small body.

  
The paladins shared a long moment of pure sadness, mourning their lost friend. Lance had always been the one to cheer them up or ease tensions. He had united them and led them to this life of adventure. And without him, they were all the saddest they had ever been.

  
They had lost a Lion and a partner, a friend, a brother…

  
“Paladins… Bring him back to the Castle. If it’s not too late, we might still be able to respect one of his wishes,” Coran offered, hardly holding back his own emotions for the sake of the rest of the team.

-

It had been only a few hours, but as they entered the Castle’s big AI memory room, it felt like it had been an eternity since they last saw him. Lance’s smile greeted them.

  
“Hey, guys! Guess what Keith! Looks like you were wrong about the paper airplane thing,” he teased him.

  
They all laughed and cried at the same time, because Lance might not be alive anymore, but they still had a part of him left with them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :)
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos!  
> Tumblr : prettygoo-d


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